During LSU’s spring game, one thing that looked a lot better than expected, was the defense. They came out looking like they were having fun, which of course can lead to momentum and taking over the game. That led to the offense looking lost for basically the entire first half. Players like Greg Penn III and Derrick Davis Jr. brought the energy, getting hyped and jumping up celebrating every play that they made.
“We accomplished what we wanted and that was to try to create as much as possible a game-like situation,” said Kelly. “I wanted to see how our guys reacted to a game-like atmosphere. I thought our defense started out with the right mindset. They came out with good energy.”
One group that seemed to stand out above the rest was the safeties. It was a position group that caught a lot of flack last season, but they stepped up big time in this game. Jay Ward was the most impactful player on the day, leading the team with 10 tackles and a pass breakup to go with it. He nearly had an interception against Nussmeier but he dropped it.
Sophomore Matthew Langlois is another safety that stood out. The former three-star recruit out of New Roads is fighting for playing time, earning first team reps during practice. He had a strong day, finishing with seven tackles. Arkansas transfer Joe Foucha, sophomores Sage Ryan and Derrick Davis Jr. all showed flashes throughout the day as well, showing some depth to the position group that hasn’t been there for a couple of years.
Kelly did not spend much time talking about the defense after the game, but did give some well deserved praise.
“We know defensively that front is really, really good,” he said.
The defensive front usually consists of four defensive lineman and three linebackers. The defensive line came out and dominated out of the gate, making the offense line look bad. They had six sacks on the day, with two of them coming from phenom Maason Smith. Saivion Jones had the most tackles of any lineman on the day with five and half of a tackle for loss.
Linebackers Penn III and Mike Jones Jr. set themselves apart with solid tackling and some good coverage play on the day. They also showed some promise as blitzing linebackers, something LSU is known to utilize when they have good athletes at the position.
What still needs to be worked on remains the same. The cornerback depth is just not there. The team just signed Sevyn Banks, a transfer from Ohio State, they’ll be getting Jarrick Bernard-Converse back from an injury, and freshman Latterance Welch who will all be on the team come fall. Ideally, that would be enough for the team to compete with, or else it will be yet another season with disappointing cornerback production.
